17th and 18th October - textiles sampling photos onto wood

One of my ideas for the art market is to put photographs onto wood and today I discussed this with Emma Strange, my tutor.   I realised that although I'd looked it up on you tube, I didn't know what the two products involved did exactly.   I'd watched the video below and it used something called Gel Medium and Mod Podge so I searched the internet and found the Mod Podge was available at Hobbycraft so on Friday I took a trip to said shop and purchased some.   They had lots of gel mediums but when I read the bottle, I wasn't convinced it was what I needed because it is infact used for mixing with acrylic.   Emma suggested that Manutex might do the same thing so I mixed some of this up - it comes as granules and is mixed with warm water to get a paste consistency.   I then painted this onto the scraps of wood that I'd got from 3d.   The next day I returned and all 3 pieces of wood were dry.   Using a sponge and water, I soaked each piece of wood, one by one, and proceeded to try to remove the excess paper, the idea being that the image would have transferred to the wood.  However this was not what had happened, and the paper completely came off each piece of wood.   So it was clear that Manutex was not what was needed.  

This is the image I used to put onto the wood - it was printed on photocopying paper on a laserjet printer

I cut the image into 3 for each of the 3 pieces of wood I was going to sample

this was a thick piece of pine (4 inches thick x 3 wide)

I don't know the name for this wood but it was very flimsy and flexible almost like the top off an old vintage table

This was a huge round piece of chipboard, the 3rd of the pieces of wood

I painted Manutex onto each piece of wood, enough to cover where the image would be



This is the end result on the pine after being left to dry overnight and then being scrubbed off gently using water and a sponge

the end result on the flimsy wood



the end result on the chipboard

 

Could I have done anything differently?   Tried to understand exactly that it is that the gel medium that is being used on You Tube does.  

I went onto ebay and decided to purchase the Liquitex product I'd seen used on You Tube as I'd tried several shops and couldn't get it.   When I went onto ebay though the shop that was the cheapest couldn't deliver for a week so I thought as I'm going to London I'll buy it down there as that's where this shop is.   However, after emailing the shop they advised they didn't have it in their actual shop but might in another branch.   I went onto the Liquitex website to see who their UK stockists were in London and found that the Graphics Centre in London did stock their products so I decided to visit there when going to London on 24th October (yesterday).

                       

Dear lardyeric-2009, Hello, I am very sorry we do not have this one in our shop which is located 1 Farleigh Road, London N16 7SX, 0207 254 4888. We do have the Golden Acrylic Matt Medium gel here.  The Fullham shop may have it 0207 384 3055. Thank you, - jacksonsartsupplies

Reply in your email program or through My Messages

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From: lardyeric-2009
To: jacksonsartsupplies
Subject: Other: lardyeric-2009 sent a message about Liquitex MATT Medium GEL 237ML #310772619569
Sent Date: 20-Oct-13 16:25:59 BST

Dear jacksonsartsupplies, Hi there, I want to buy your liquitex matt medium gel and I'm in London on Thursday.  I just wondered do you have an actual shop I can purchase it from as i'm strugging to get it in Staffordshire.    If you have a shop, can you give me details i.e. location?   thank you - lardyeric-2009

                   

Liquitex MATT Medium GEL 237ML Item Id: 310772619569 End time: 17-Nov-13 15:12:40 GMT Seller: jacksonsartsupplies (14139) 99.8% Positive Feedback Member since 11-Jul-07 in United Kingdom Location: London, United Kingdom

Anyway on arriving in London we went down Portobello Road and I spotted an art shop - looked a bit run down and I judged before I went in that they wouldn't have what I wanted.  However, to my amazement they had loads of liquitex products.  They didn't have the exact one I wanted, however when I told the man what I wanted it for, he showed me an alternative.   He even showed me a sample he'd done.   I bought it and was convinced i'd been given his sales pitch !   Lessons learnt here: don't judge and trust ! 

I had more samples of wood from 3d in 3 sizes: one chipboard and two hardboard.   I set about painting the pieces with the Windsor & Newton Matt Gel.   I then placed 3 photographs face down onto the wood containing the gel - two printed on laserjet printer on photocopying paper, and one actual photograph.  I was a bit sloppy as I didn't get the air bubbles out - I didn't really believe it was going to work.   I left them to dry overnight.  

The next day, they were bone dry, so using a sponge and water, I wet one of the pieces of hardboard and gently started to scrub.   To my amazement the paper started coming off leaving an image on the board !!   It took in total at least 1 hour to do all 3 pieces of wood.  

finished product after removing all paper - the vertical lines are where I scrubbed too hard

the finished piece on chipboard - my stones photograph

this was the actual photograph on photo quality paper.  It didn't work at all.  

I had to repeat the scrubbing process several times, each times letting the wood dry out because when I thought it was all off, it would dry off and then became clear that there was still paper on there.   In total during the day after several scrubbing sessions, it took 1 1/2 hours.   When the wood was dry again I applied Mod Podge which is used to seal the image on the wood.   When applied this didn't go clear !   However about an hour later, when it was drying pretty well, it was clear.  I noted though that the brush marks were also visible (to my eye).   I left one image on the hardboard un sealed so the sample can be seen of the two in my sketch book. 

Reflection..... what could I have done differently?  Better?  

taken more time when applying my pictures to the wood to ensure no air bubbles.  I see a sample as just something to do quickly whereas really that's not the right attitude.  Although a sample is a test to see if something works, that doesn't mean it has to be of poor quality.    So get all air bubbles out, set up my work area properly and not just start doing it when I've just had a long day in London.  I was I have to say excited to see if it would work.   My next step is to get some feedback on the final products.   I like the finished effect and I would do some for myself or for gifts.   But I'm not sure if I could sell them at the arts market.   I feel I need to get some different wood, lighter wood and try some different images.   

The images I have used are quite dark - sunset images - so the detail that can be seen on the photograph itself i.e. the rocks with the sun on them - can't be seen on the final piece on the wood.   So I will go to the wood yard, get some sample pieces of pine I think, cut in a chunky size and then try a pig image as the one I tried was the actual photograph which didn't work.  The pig images are much brighter so may work.  

Cost of this sampling is just under £10 for the matt gel and the Mod Podge was under a fiver.